The Museum in Kętrzyn has a collection of late Gothic sculptures from the Teutonic state in Prussia. The masterpiece of the collection is the figure of St. James the Great from the Hospital Chapel of the Holy Spirit in Kętrzyn. The Teutonic Order founded the local hospital around 1360. The sculpture of St. James itself was made by the Elbląg workshop in the years 1515-1520.
The apostle is depicted as a pilgrim in a traveling cloak, a wide-brimmed hat (with a trace of a seashell), in his right hand he displays an open book, and in his left he holds a walking stick and a travel bag.
The town of Kętrzyn lies on one of several medieval pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela – the burial place of St. James, which in the Middle Ages was the third most popular destination for European pilgrims after Rome and the Holy Land. The Brotherhood of St. James developed in Kętrzyn already at the end of the 15th century.
In addition to the statue of St. James, the museum collection includes Gothic figures of St. Peter the Apostle, St. George, the Crucified Christ from the crucifix from Garbno, eight figures of the apostles from the altar of the church in Galiny, a bust of a woman and a sculpture of St. Dorothy. The figure of St. Dorothy of Caesarea, an early Christian martyr from the 3rd century who was widely venerated in the Teutonic State, comes from the church in Tołkiny, as do the later sculptures of the Holy Trinity and angels on display.
Sculptures of the Apostles from the church in Galiny
(photo by Kahl?, 1937)
Sculptures from the hospital chapel of the Holy Spirit in Kętrzyn
(photo by Anton Ulbrich, 1904/1909)
St. James in the hospital chapel of the Holy Spirit in Kętrzyn
(photo by Gerhard Strauss, 1938)
Sculptures in the church in Tołkiny
(photo by Anton Ulbrich, 1904/1909)
Angels placed on the sides of the altar in Tołkiny
(photo by Gerhard Strauss, 1938)
Sculptures of the Holy Trinity in the altar of the church in Tołkiny
(photo by Gerhard Strauss, 1938)
Gothic sculpture of the Crucified Christ in the church in Garbno
(photo by Gerhard Strauss, 1938)
Archival photographs in the resources of Art Institute of The Polish Academy of Sciences
from the collection of the former Provincial Heritage Office in Königsberg
Gothic sculptures of St. Peter and St. George
Bust of a woman
Lazarus licked by dogs
from the Holy Spirit Hospital in Kętrzyn